P.E Nation co-founder Pip Edwards discusses how the business has adapted to COVID-19 and how it sees the future.
What have been some hot sellers during the social isolation period? Why do you think this is?
Our puffer jackets and our matching tracksuit sets and hoodies have all seen a massive spike in sales.
COVID-19 living, the need to be warm and in comfort is 100% driving the purchases.
Buy now, wear now is definitely in play.
How are sales performing?
Sales have definitely increased however its hard to give an exact percentage.
The increase is from the changed lifestyle that COVID-19 has encouraged but also because a few of major retailers have had to shut shop with all the regulations, we are definitely seeing the customer come straight to us.
What changes in consumer buying behaviour have you noticed?
Our organic search is way up and our social and EDM conversions are significantly higher than to pre-COVID time.
There is a real sense of urgency with our customer. Every time we drop new product it actually sells out within hours.
How has the business adapted to the pandemic? Have there been any changes in logistics, marketing or eCommerce that you can discuss?
We have definitely had to re-look at our inventory levels going forward and the product offering to ensure we can cater for this surge for the need of activewear/leisurewear.
We have more focus on our online team, and will build on our existing team to ensure that we can capture all the important data possible to build up and capitalise on the strength of our online.
Marketing is always needed, but I guess the copy and comms that we communicate must be considerate of the time, but still show strength and passion.
We now have great confidence in the potential of our own online business and need to nurture and foster this.
Has P.E Nation discovered anything that really works for the business during this time that it will continue even once restrictions are lifted?
I feel consumers now have all equally had a taste of the comfort of COVID living, and I believe their spending habits will shift and continue to shift towards clothes that offer bang for your buck – which was always the premise behind P.E Nation – apparel that is functional, comfortable, with performance, in addition to having a fashion trend edge to it.
This has never been more important than now.
How does the business plan to return to ‘normal’? What can you share about this?
There is no return to normal.
This is a new chapter and we have to adapt the forecast to what is already happening.
Checks on inventory, and cashflow, and building out the range plans are weekly and critical.
Now it's about understanding who the new customers are that are coming to our site and it's about catering for a larger, global market.
I don’t want to return normal, as that was in the past. I want to take the knowledge we know now and push it, and create exciting opportunities around this new online prospect.
To have the traffic to support a quick to market programme is one of the new initiatives we are working on, which is a no brainer.